First CFL Grow! Need Advice to Make Plant Bushy (Pics)

[aesparza4]

with a 400 cfl that doesnt get much foliage penetration u want to utilize every single square inch of light, your probably only pushing like 10,000 lumens max with that 400 watt cfl i would suppose so u need to use it all....so keeping it bushy is the right idea, i wouldnt top cuase 2x2 is skinny and that plants gonna wanna v up and out a little as well, plus u would still grow tall after the hormones get going again after the topping...have u ever though about a scrog screen?...than you can have a full, flat canopy to your standards and then bam, flower it and you will just have colas coming up out the top of the screen...ofcourse this will take longer to veg but it might be your best bet?? maybe top it and immediately after the separete nodes start growings up just keep those 2 branches LSTd down and when the bottom nodes catch up....flower it


oh and another thing, just in case you were curious, everything mystified has told you is sound, experienced advice, it truly boils down to what you want to do...

i have another 300 watt light but it is soft white so i was just going to save it until it was time to go into flowering and put both of them in there. do you think i should throw it in there already? and what is a scrog screen? is it kind of like a net that up put over your plants so they weave through it?

 

[mazand1982]

see aesparza, basically you need to do the first grow to truly see how the plant grows and u will realiuze its very simple and basic no matter what you want to do....dont get confused with all these fancy names...when someone "tops" a plant all that means is cutting off the top meat of the plant and the natural healing process of the plant is to turn into 2 main stems, so on and so forth.

and when someone says LST its even easier, all LST means is bend the plant down and make it go what direction you want it to...bend it over and think of anything to hold it bent over...maybe a screw in the outside rim of the pot and there u have it...put a loose string knot around where u want it to start bending over and pull the whole stalk to the side and tie the string to the screw but not too taut, just gently constant tugging to keep it from standing upright again...


and a scrog screen is a screen that has squares in it that you put over your plant...anytime new growth tries to grow through the square you bend it back under, big deal...lol

they are all simple basic ideas that work great...


i would definitely keep it simple though...focus more on it stayinbg alive then by not overwatering or over nuting...air flow, proper temp/humidity...dont bite off more than you can chew on your first grow and trying to get a pound off that plant,lol...

and you should def. get a different light, if your already using 400 watts, get a 400 watt metal halide and hps light, if thats your plant at 4 weeks from clone your not gonna believe this is one of mine under a 400 watt Metal halide at only 14 days

 

[aesparza4]

see aesparza, basically you need to do the first grow to truly see how the plant grows and u will realiuze its very simple and basic no matter what you want to do....dont get confused with all these fancy names...when someone "tops" a plant all that means is cutting off the top meat of the plant and the natural healing process of the plant is to turn into 2 main stems, so on and so forth.

and when someone says LST its even easier, all LST means is bend the plant down and make it go what direction you want it to...bend it over and think of anything to hold it bent over...maybe screw a screw in the outside rim of the pot and there u have it...put a loose know around where u want it to start bending over and pull the whole stalk to the side and tie the string to the screw but not too taut, just gently constant tugging to keep it from standing upright again...


and a scrog screen is a screen that has squares in it that you put over your plant...anytime new growth tries to grow through the square you bend it back under, big deal...lol

they are all simple basic ideas that work great...

which would you prefer to use to make plant bushier, which do you think is the most effective and will yield the most?

 

[mazand1982]

which would you prefer to use to make plant bushier, which do you think is the most effective and will yield the most?

well if i were you growing in that space with that light with and u want max yield easiest to do i would probably... top the plant once let it grow up and get more side lighting...5 feet tall is taller than you think. keep ALL your CFL bulbs as close to the plants as possible without burning the leaf by direct contact or super close proximity... heres a picture of a CFL hood i made that i use to root my clones and do some early vegging, its just a turkey pan upside down, Y splitters, and some hot glue. bulbs and everything maybe 20 bucks top. extremely bright and it holds 8 bulbs 8 x 27 watt = 216 watts right there of any color temperature u decide...(in the picture its less bulbs because i took a couple Y splitters out at this time)

so just use that 400 watt u have now for the tops and make or construct something similar to this or 2 and have them hanging down on each side of the plant, it produces barely any heat and alot of light...then u might get a actual fat yield...


one more thing, dont spend too much money or get anything permanent with CFL stuff, CFL doesnt really produce alot of rich dense nugs, you will want to upgrade to HID in the future

 

[aesparza4]

so i should hold off on putting that other light in the tent? yeah i have only got around $100 total invested in this grow op... for the next one i plan on saving up and getting a HPS light.. but i just couldnt wait to start growing so i went cheap with cfls... how much longer would you say i would need to have it in veg until its time to switch to flower

 

[mazand1982]

ive seen people vegging with both color spectrums with cfl during veg, ive personally only used the bluer light in the 5500-6500 range, but i know u can veg with hps and thats a low rating also, like 2300-2700 or something so using the soft might be better than spendiong more money and im sure it would be fine, but maybe ask someone else cause im not sure 100%...


in a 5 foot tall space lewt it get like 18 inches tall id say then flower them...(if u have right conditions and enough light) it should double or maybe even more heigth wise....so that puts you 36 inches + pot + light = should be cool

 

[aesparza4]

ive seen people vegging with both color spectrums with cfl during veg, ive personally only used the bluer light in the 5500-6500 range, but i know u can veg with hps and thats a low rating also, like 2300-2700 or something so using the soft might be better than spendiong more money and im sure it would be fine, but maybe ask someone else cause im not sure 100%...


in a 5 foot tall space lewt it get like 18 inches tall id say then flower them...(if u have right conditions and enough light) it should double or maybe even more heigth wise....so that puts you 36 inches + pot + light = should be cool

yeah i have heard that putting both spectrum's in there at the same time isnt bad but i just didnt want to throw to much light in there while its still small.... do you think 700watt would be a little too much for such a small plant alright man your advice is greatly appreciated..... if you have any other advice that you can give me i would be more than happy to hear

 

[mazand1982]

yeah i have heard that putting both spectrum's in there at the same time isnt bad but i just didnt want to throw to much light in there while its still small.... do you think 700watt would be a little too much for such a small plant alright man your advice is greatly appreciated..... if you have any other advice that you can give me i would be more than happy to hear

are ur wattage numbers actual wattage or the higher number it says on the box?

 

[aesparza4]

it is the wattage that my light bulb is equivalent to

 

[mazand1982]

it is the wattage that my light bulb is equivalent to

lol...man ur killing me...thats only like 100 true watts i think, THATS hy its growing so fucking slow,lol...dude u need to get more lights before u even think about getting any bud off that, i wouldnt even grow with that to be honest, your gonna be pissed when the outcome arrives...heres a pic of a clone of mine that was a tiny clone and this pic was taken at like 2 weeks

 

[aesparza4]

lol...man ur killing me...thats only like 100 true watts i think, THATS hy its growing so fucking slow,lol...dude u need to get more lights before u even think about getting any bud off that, i wouldnt even grow with that to be honest, your gonna be pissed when the outcome arrives...heres a pic of a clone of mine that was a tiny clone and this pic was taken at like 2 weeksView attachment 1609425

so your saying i need to throw that other light in there asap or should just go with completley different lights

 

[mazand1982]

so your saying i need to throw that other light in there asap or should just go with completley different lights

well i want to say this in the most respectful way as possible cause u seem chill but IMO you should have researched more before you just got that light and one plant, you might be a little too anxious, do it right and the first time, download grow videos, watch you tube how to grow marijuana videos, study and compare different lights, everything....


i will tell u this tho, if i was you id realize this plants probably wont get you a huge yield so throw both lights in there and just be whatever about it, you havent invested a whole lotta money into these cfl lights so i wouldnt continue down the cfl road in the future cause in the background it looks like a nice tent...research more and do a more serious thought out grow to get a real harvest, good luck,

 

[aesparza4]

damn alright man thanks, you have been alot of help

 

[ltkipras]

look up uncle ben's topping method
it will give you 2-4 main colas instead of 1, and will help with the height restrictions
or try some lst, tie that bitch down

try fim'ing it's less harmful